University of Cambridge > Talks.cam > Darwin College Humanities and Social Sciences Seminars > How languages signal highlights using mismatches as methodology

  Browse A-Z

Log in

Googledetails Microsoftdetails

🔐 Log In

Information on

Subscribing to talksdetails Finding a talkdetails Adding a talkdetails Disseminating talksdetails Help and Documentationdetails

ℹī¸ Information

How languages signal highlights using mismatches as methodology

Download to your calendar using vCal

If you have a question about this talk, please contact Dr Duncan Needham .

How do you indicate what is most important in your message? In English you can use intonation: “We’re going to DARWIN College”. Many African languages, however, have fascinating other ways of highlighting the focus of the sentence. For example, Luganda uses a reduces form of the noun:

Yagula e-bitabo ‘He bought books’ Yagula _-bitabo ‘He bought BOOKS ’

But how can we know whether this means ‘surprisingly he bought books’ or ‘books and nothing else’? And is that meaning baked into the grammar, or is it something we infer from context? Come along and learn how other languages signal highlights, using mismatches as methodology.

This talk is part of the Darwin College Humanities and Social Sciences Seminars series.

This talk is included in these lists:

Note that ex-directory lists are not shown.

Other lists

Average on weekdays: 8971.27284264 kWh Lecture Room 4, 8 Mill Lane Centre for Mathematical Sciences, MR16

Other talks

Bigger Picture Talk: Developing future marine engines running on ammonia and other green fuels Title to be confirmed Group Work Tea and Coffee Break Scattering Plenty: the people who made the modern countryside Title to be confirmed
 

Š 2006-2025 Talks.cam, University of Cambridge. Contact Us | Help and Documentation | Privacy and Publicity